Thursday, June 18, 2015

The U.S. Open and a Letter to the GM!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Thursday, June 18th and the 115th United States Open finally starts today! I am excited and looking forward to watching the best players in the world undergo the sternest examination in championship golf. Chambers Bay Director of Agronomy Eric Johnson, Golf Course Superintendent Josh Lewis and their team of 177 staff and volunteers from all over the world have given the USGA the firmest golf course since the Open Championship was contested at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) in 2006! After browsing some of the information being shared via social media the past few evenings, the next four days of this championship are shaping up to possibly be a thrill ride! (see what I did there).

But enough about Chambers Bay and the U.S. Open, the reason I am writing today is to share with you a message I sent earlier this morning to our General Manager and Greens Committee Chairman. The past few days have seen Mother Nature really crank up the heat and I know some of you are probably wondering what impact the temperature coupled with the lack of rainfall may have on the golf course. I assure you we are doing everything we possibly can to preserve and protect your golf course here at Carolina Golf Club.

Memo

To: Roger Wolfe, CCM

From: Matthew Wharton, CGCS

Cc: Stephen Woodard, Greens Chairman

Date: June 18, 2015

Re: Course Condition Update

I want to take
this opportunity to update you on current course conditions and the measures my
staff and I are taking as we continue to manage the golf course under difficult
and challenging weather extremes.

Although we were
not completely unscathed by winterkill, compared to our neighbors in other
parts of North Carolina we were very fortunate.
As of this time we have replaced exactly 25,000 square feet of
bermudagrass turf with new sod (15,000 in and around the putting surfaces in
early April and 10,000 two weeks ago in the fairway and rough of holes one,
nine, ten, and seventeen). We still need
to replace approximately 5,000 square feet more in the rough of holes four and
fourteen, along with a few bunker slopes affected by Spring Dead Spot and some
random cart path edges. We will do this
work next week.

The month of
April brought near record rainfall as we accumulated almost six inches (5.89”)
in twelve measurable events. You recall
the near daily golf car restrictions and the difficulty we endured just trying
to mow the golf course as the bermudagrass emerged from hibernation. May dawned with a drastic change in our
weather pattern bringing much needed warmer temperatures but little
rainfall. The golf course only received
0.11 inch rain the entire month of May and only 1.03 inches has fallen in June
thus far. This lack of sufficient
natural rainfall is slowly beginning to take a toll on the golf course. Traffic from golf cars is something my staff
and I have to monitor much more frequently.
I would like to remind everyone the club’s posted policy regarding golf
car use states golf cars are to be operated only in the fairway. Please avoid the rough during play of the
hole after entering the fairway.

We have been
irrigating nightly to keep up with plant needs, but irrigation alone is only
supplemental and isn’t capable of replacing natural rain. Wetting agent is something we use regularly
throughout the year with putting green management, but recently we applied a
wetting agent to all tee complexes. We
have used approximately 8.5 million gallons of water on the golf course over
the past 50 days (< 200,000 per day) to maintain plant health, and the
course is playing firm and fast with limited turf stress for now.

The past several
days saw a return of the dreaded dome, a high pressure system sitting over the
southeast pumping extreme heat and humidity into our region. Yesterday was the third consecutive day the
high temperature in Charlotte reached 99 degrees (the first two of which set
new records) and we may finally reach the century mark today. In order to preserve and protect our
bentgrass putting greens fans are in place, we are closely monitoring soil
moisture levels multiple times daily, hand watering when and where necessary, monitoring
canopy temperatures and syringing when and where needed, and closely monitoring
soil temperatures. Also, I raised the height
of cut and we are spraying preventatively for increased disease pressure.

It is my understanding this current
unseasonable heat wave is expected to remain in place for another couple weeks
before we may see significant relief. Thus far the
mood in my department is upbeat. We are
pleased that despite all we have endured in 2015 we currently have a golf
course that presents itself very well to our members and their guests. It is not my intention today to be alarming,
but merely remain out front with regards to member communications in case we
are forced at a later date to make difficult decisions with regards to golf car
use, course accessibility, or water supplies.

About Me

I am originally from Castlewood, a small town located in the southwestern corner of Virginia. I graduated from Virginia Tech in 1993 with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and in 1999 with a M.S. in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences. I am currently the golf course superintendent of Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte, NC. Carolina is a 1929 Donald Ross design recently renovated and restored in 2008 by Kris Spence.